Complications
by SallySorrell
Summary: Nina has three options. Jack, Tony, Terrorism. They’ve all got their pros and cons. One’s got a wife. A wife Nina hates. This can't end well. Chapter 4 up now!
1. Chapter 1

Decisions suck. Especially tough, life-changing ones like this.

Love or a profitable career…? Or _him_, he's an option too.

I've got a little time to think it over, but probably not enough.

***

_He_ started it. Yes, definitely his fault.

Tony. I walk in to work with him one morning and the whole office is freaked out. People need lives.

That doesn't mean I spent the night with him (though I did) Maybe we carpooled, his car broke down, we had breakfast together. Plenty of sensible options.

I love him, though dating around the office has its problems.

The main problem is that I've been offered a sum of money that I don't feel like passing up. How do I get it? By becoming a traitor to him. Terrible.

The _other_ problem is that I love someone else too.

_I_ started it that time.

Jack, he's worked with me forever. His wife has some problems. I offered him my help.

Then he takes me on vacation with him, without his wife. Fun, fun.

I'd hate to turn against them both, but I'd say I could use the money right now.

So _today_, I get to make a decision. As of now, I'm on everybody's side.  
I'm helping Tony at CTU, and shuttling Jack's _wife_ around, _and_ keeping up my contact with the Drazen's operation.

Tony waves his hand in front of my face. There we go, I was dosing off again. Wonderful way to keep my cover.

"Nina, what's up?"

_Why_ does he smile at me? Oh yes, I'm falling for him again.

Now Jack walks over, onto CTU LA's main floor.

"Anything new?" he smiles too, despite the situation. Great.

The two men glare at each other, then look back at me.

I shake my head at them both and walk away.

"Oh, Jack… Teri's on the phone." I say as I leave.

He comes up (very closely, I might add) behind me. He presses a button on the desk phone and speaks to her.

"What?" is the first thing he says to the phone.  
"Jack? What's wrong? You don't sound right."

Of course he doesn't. What's right about having an affair with his co-worker? Especially when she's a future terrorist?

"I'm fine. How's Kim?"

"Coping. The safe-house needs some new wallpaper though."

I told you, she's got issues. Wallpaper, on a safe-house? Really, who cares?

I walk over to Tony.

"What was that about?" he glares at Jack as he addresses me. Ah, I've turned two alliances against each other, always a perk.

I toss my shoulders in some rushed sort of shrug.

Jack comes back over now.  
"Nina, can I talk to you?"

He pulls me aside, which upsets Tony, and takes me down one of the cement corridors.

"Look, about Teri…"

I nod.

"I know she's been through some terrible things today, and I, I…"

He doesn't know what to say? That doesn't normally happen until after I've kissed him.

"I hate to ask you another favor, but could you bring her back into CTU? I'd feel better if she was here."

"Me personally?"

He nodded.

"And you could talk to her; you guys don't exactly get along."

_Really?!?_ Is that because I'm having an affair with her husband? As smart as he is, he doesn't get this.

"Sure, should I leave now?"

Again, he nods.

We depart, and I take the long way. Tony doesn't need to see me with him.

***

I knock at the safe-house door.

I regret walking through a mass of thorns and shrubs to get to the door. Really, I don't want to see her. Or Kim.

Kim shouldn't exist.

No one answers.

"CTU, Agent Myers." I call out, blowing whatever cover I had. I regret that too.

Watch, this is when some rouge jumps out of nowhere and shoots me.

Or not, Teri inches the door open.

"Oh, _Nina_?"

"Yah, Jack told me to pick you guys up. He wants you back at CTU as soon as possible."

Teri looks over her shoulder and calls for Kim.

Within a minute, they both follow me to the CTU van I've arrived in. I now become a chauffer, opening the back door for Kim and the passenger door for Teri.

Silence, the entire car ride. I can't complain.

I escort them back into CTU. Jack is waiting at the main floor.

I'm so terrible... The first person he greets is me.

Then Kim, with a hug and kiss, then Teri, with one less heartfelt.

I smirk to myself.

Tony comes over now, and greets Teri and Kim, _then_ me.

Then Jack and Tony leave for the Holding Rooms, to question someone, I don't remember the name.

I take Teri and Kim to what we call the waiting room. It's on the tier between Holding and the locker rooms. Beds fold down from the walls, and I tell the girls this before I leave.

As soon as I'm back on the Main Floor, my desk phone rings.  
I answer, and it's Teri. How petty.

She wants to see me, and I have no choice but to oblige.

I go back down the hallway to the waiting area.

She's rolling her eyes, over and over.

"Nina, can I talk to you."

Stupid. Why else would she have asked me here?

I nod, slowly.

"I want you to leave my husband alone."

I don't answer her, there's nothing to say really.

Kim nods in approval.

"You're a _bitch_, Nina." Teri tells me, though I was already quite aware of this fact.

My cell phone rings. It's one of Drazen's men.

"Excuse me, I need to take this call." I tell Teri and leave.

They're asking about my loyalties again, and if I plan on following through on this mission. Really, I don't have an answer yet, but I don't express this.

As soon as I hang up, Tony calls.

Well, I'm certainly popular.

He and Jack have finished questioning whoever it was, and are returning to me for new information.

Oh yes, I need to get that prisoner out of here. Somehow…Teri could help me with that.

Currently, I'm leaning toward Tony again, as he's promised me a few things over the phone. I assume Jack wasn't in the room when the call was made.

If we get through today (and I'm not a terrorist) he's taking me to some hotel in Vegas for the weekend. How thoughtful. I make a mental tally of this.

Terrorists: several million dollars and safety

Jack: divorcing Teri, a family

Tony: fun-filled weekend in Vegas

Now we're about even.

Teri calls again. Oh, now she's threatening to kill me. That's nice.

I return to my station, and check the newest info sent to my server.

A message from Drazen's secure line, he's offered me a million dollars more to make a decision by the end of the day. That sounds great right about now.

Tony comes up to me.

"Nina, do yourself a favor and stay away from Jack."

"Jealous, are we?" Not the best thing I could've said.

"No, actually. He's married, and I wouldn't want Teri on edge right now."

"And why not?" He knows how much I dislike her. Even before she and Jack married, I didn't like her. That was just the ultimate turning point.

"She's pregnant, Nina."

Now _that_ sucks. In my backwards world, this is an opportune time to scold Jack.

"Thank you Tony, I'll keep that in mind."

I try to walk away, but he stretches out one of his strong arms and catches me around the waist.

"Really Nina, leave her and Jack alone."

"I wasn't planning anything."

I turn and give him my trademark seductive smile. He lets me go, giving me a mirrored smile in return.

_Now_ is when I begin my planning. How clever, I can get my way without lying to Tony.

I'm not the ruthless woman that would think of killing Teri Bauer.

No, I'm the ruthless woman that would let her live, so she could suffer, watching my life with Jack from afar.

_To Be Continued…_


	2. Chapter 2

I'm at my desk, being careful not to go dosing off again.

Tony is hovering around the area; Jack's visiting Teri (at Tony's request.)

Almeida seems to be the sanest person in the office today. Today of all days.

He walks by me very slowly.

"Nina," he says to me, "Do we have a possible location on the Drazens?"

He doesn't even sound interested in an answer, I think this was just an excuse to talk to me. I remember this as well.

"No." I tell him, plainly.

He turns his head toward the hallway. I slowly do the same.

There is a loud crash against a distant wall, glass breaking.

"That'll be Jack." Tony announced, looking back at me.

I nod my head in agreement.

Yes, moments after, Jack comes running through the hallway, blood on his lip.

He doesn't say anything until Tony looks at him, quizzically.

"I walk in and she throws a vase at me... Since when did we keep vases in the Waiting Rooms?!? Then, I try to kiss her, and she stabs my lip!"

Tony wants to laugh; I can see the twitching on the very edges of his cheeks.

I'm sure Tony put the vases there. How childish.

"What about _Kim_?" I ask Jack.

He shrugs.

"She didn't say anything."

"I'll talk to her," Tony says. He leaves.

He's the only neutral one in the situation, unless of course he and _Teri_ are having some sort of affair. This isn't likely, and would be a very confusing concept to grasp. I rule out the possibility.

One point for Tony for remaining a normal, acceptable human being.

And one to Jack for putting up with his wife.

"What'd she say, Jack?"

"It doesn't matter. You know what, Nina? Honestly, I was going to give her a chance."

"A _chance_? She's your _wife_." I intend this to sound skeptical.

"She's losing her mind, that's what's happening. I know, today has been a bit crazy for her, and for Kim, but she's losing it."

"Because of _me_, don't ya think?"

Clueless, he's definitely passed that by now.

Tony returns.

"Nice going." He says to both of us.

"I'm getting back to _work_." I answer, sitting back down at my station. Has their battle over me made them forget the terrorist attacks we're facing? The ones _I'm_ a part (will be, will be.)  
I call Drazen as soon as they both leave.

"Nina," he answers, "The funds have been transferred to your account, I need you to start carrying out operations from inside CTU."

"Yes," I say simply, "Anything else?"

He hangs up. Obviously not.

You think terrorists would be more polite. Ha.

I open up my bank account on the screen. Yes, the money is there. I click on the link, and the files open. The money is there, mine, and can't be withdrawn. Just as I was promised.

"Tony!" I call, getting up from my chair, "Look at this."

Tony's winning right now; I might as well keep him from getting suspicious. I can cover up with Drazen later.

I open a list of recent calls made to my station. Well look at that, Drazen's number is at the top of the list!  
Worst case scenario, I get a million dollars and Tony… _and_ Jack, that's still a problem.

"What about it?"

Oh, wonderful thinking on my part. It's just a number, he doesn't recognize it, and neither should I.

I pull up a map, changing the subject and trying to ramble my point across.

"I traced it, it's within the vicinity Drazen's men were found in."

"You think it's connected?"

I nod.

"Did you answer the phone?"

I shake my head.

"If it rings again, answer it and get me over here."

"Sure."

"Great work, I'll be back; I've got to send medics to Teri."

"Okay…"

He leaves to do so.

I see Jack standing up across the room from me. As he begins to walk toward me, red lights flash around us.  
Oh wow, those only go off when the building is locked down or under attack. Or if some genius tapped a wrong button signing in.

The four glass walls that surround the Situation Room seal. Ah, we must be under attack, that's a sure sign.

Jack immediately pulls his gun from his holster and starts down one of the hallways.

You know what I'm going to do?

I head for the Waiting Rooms.

Yes, there we go. Kim is sitting at one of the couches, not looking the slightest bit worried, and Teri isn't even present.

I ponder removing my gun as well, but find it useless at this point.

"Where's your mom?" I ask Kim.

No answer.

I repeat the phrase at a shout.

And nothing, wonderful.

I turn and run down one of the hallways, and find my way to Medical.

Look at that, it's Teri Bauer. Seated on a waiting table, no doctors in sight. Her hands are tied in front of her, not in handcuffs, but something similar to putting a muzzle on a violent dog.

"I hate you." she yells at me as I walk past, "You take away my _husband_, and that doesn't shame you? What an example you've set for my daughter. Thank you very much for tearing apart my perfectly happy life, Nina Meyers, you son of a bitch."

Nice thought, and I deserve it.

Her arms tense, as if she wants to do something such as pounce on me.

I remain silent, and just stare at her. Occasionally, I toss my head, moving my hair out of my face. It isn't long enough to brush back, but just long enough to blur my vision.

I circle Teri now, still eyeing her. I know she hates this, being examined and all.

But now I think of something better. I'll be innocent, kind even. I can be ruthless later.

I step carefully step backward, and force myself into a smile. This physically burns the insides of my cheeks. Smiling? At _her_?

"Congratulations." I tell her, honestly.

"On?"

"The baby? If someone told me, then you've heard."

She rolls her eyes.

"I wanted to forget. Thank you for wrecking something else, Nina. This poor, innocent child will never meet its father, thanks to you."

"I don't recall Jack leaving you."

Her brows furrow.

"You don't? He couldn't have possibly _left _me when he went out for a week with _you_!"

Now she throws herself from the table. Before I can really comprehend anything, she's reached across a medical tray and retrieved some sort of scalpel.

She rushes at me, and jabs the scalpel into the soft flesh below my chest. This won't be fatal, but it will if she continues.

Thank God, she can't.

The door opens, just as she raises the knife over me again, and in comes guess who.

Yah, Jack. Tony is behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

"Teri!" Jack shouts, as if to scold her.

It must be an odd sight, Teri sitting over me, running a knife into my stomach.

"Don't you try and stop me, _Jack_!" is her annoyed reply.

She makes no sense; she rolls off of me and tosses the scalpel away.

"Agent Meyers?" Tony's voice calls. Nice idea of his, trying to make all this crap seem professional.

"I'm fine." I push myself up, groaning. I brush off my skirt and examine my wounds.

Not bad, and not anything close to what I deserve, or to what damage could've been done.

Thus, I'm doing fine.

Teri's arms are shaking. She's staring at the knife on the floor, and I can see a tear glistening on her cheek.

Tony walks over, slowly, to survey the crime scene.

Jack is remaining silent and oddly stationary.

Tony then helps Teri to her feet. How polite, gentlemanly.

Minus one for Tony, for even _touching_ her.

"T-Teri…" is the next thing Jack says, and even this is barely audible, and lacking any sort of emotion.

Teri doesn't look at him. With some difficulty, she throws her still-tied arms over Tony.

Hmm.

"I need to take Agent Meyers to the Situation Room." Tony says to Teri.

I love him. Thinking everything through, I wish I knew how to do that.

He can't send Jack to do it, that would send Teri over the edge again. And he can't stay with Teri, that would upset me.  
Perfect, Tony's even again.

Jack leaves the room with Tony and I. The only thing that wasn't well-planned was leaving Teri alone.

Jack pages for Security as soon as we're down the hallway, and the problem is solved.

Tony takes my arm and pulls me down to the Situation Room doors.

They're still sealed, and several agents are inside.

Jack gives them some sort of signaled wave, and the doors open.

"False Alarm." He announces, "Prisoner is secure."

Teri the prisoner, a lovely thought.

"We need a minute with Agent Meyers." Tony adds.

The agents nod and scatter.

Oh, I see what's going on; Jack's set it up to make _me_ look like the mentioned prisoner. Fine by me, then no one will worry about Teri, or suspect anything wrong.

"See what I mean?" Jack asks me, as soon as the random people have left and the doors have shut.

I watch Tony roll his eyes. He reaches under the conference table and removes the emergency kit. He opens it and fetches a variety of bandaging.

Jack and Tony silently look over the bandaging.

I sit down atop the table, and they immediately pick up the bandages.

Remember how courteous Tony was earlier? That disappears now.

He untucks my blouse from my skirt and rolls my shirt up.

Jack takes this as some sort of cue, and begins wrapping the bandage around me. His hands are cold.

"I don't even know what to say…" Tony tells us, joining Jack.

There are no words in any language to express what is happening and what we should be saying.

Silence until they've finished.

"So Teri set off the alarm system?" I ask, as Jack tugs my shirt back down. What, am I helpless?

"That's what we're assuming." Was Tony's answer, "The signal came from Waiting."

I nod.

"Where's Kim?"

"Jack took her to Holding, she's fine."

I know he still cares about his daughter, but I certainly don't.

But I respect this, and plus one for Jack.

The Terrorists have fallen behind on my agenda. I need to go pull up some promised schematics for them right about now.

"I'll be back in a minute…" I tell them, and leave.


	4. Chapter 4

So, I just got off the phone with Mr. Drazen.

No changes in plan or payment, I just gave him some new (pointless) leads to follow up on.

I'm agitated now.

Neither Tony nor Jack has bothered to speak to me for the last hour or so. Not a casual 'hi' or anything.

If they knew that they were the only thing keeping me from becoming a terrorist, maybe they'd go out of their way to speak to me. Maybe not...

Well, I want attention, and I want it now. Jack left on some field mission, and Tony is speaking to Teri. This is so messed up.

I love it.

I need a plan now.

Teri is popular right about now. Why?

Bingo, she's _pregnant_.

That and her husband happens to be having an affair with me. But that's minor.

Pregnant, I could pull that off, easy.

I'm an evil genius, I should be a terrorist. (Ha!)

***

I sit at my desk, staring at the screen. I've closed and deleted Drazen's last message. He doesn't need to hear from me for awhile.

Now, my _happy_ news needs to be broken. I think Tony should hear it first.

Because he's convenient, not married to Teri the Prisoner and… I happen to favor him right now.

I leave my desk and step through the Analysts' Bay to his.

"Tony? You got a minute?" I ask.

He looks up at me, a bit agitated.

"What?"

That wasn't a good enough segue for me. I'll wait a while.

"Nina, we're in the middle of a threat, if this isn't relevant, I don't want to hear it."

That's not any better.

He snatches a folder from his desk, flips it open and sits down to read.

Jack walks by, and I glare at him. This regains Tony's attention.

"Go…" he orders me, dropping the folder.

"I didn't want to tell you this… ever. But I think I should, it's driving me crazy."

"Yah?"

The word means everything in Tony's vocabulary.

"I think I'm… pregnant, Tony."

The last two words are barely audible.

"You _what_?"

I'm in no state to repeat it. I don't care if it's a lie, I don't want to say it again.

"I know you heard me."

His lips do that weird, twitching thing again, as he if he _wants_ to smile. It deteriorates into a frown and even a scowl quite quickly.

"I don't know what to tell you." He runs one of his hands through his hair.

I tilt my head, intending to look confused. I think it fails.

"Don't mess with me, Nina. Are you sure?"

I don't have to be.

"Would I have come in here otherwise?" There, ha! A marvelous, indirect answer to the question.

His forehead hits the palm of his right hand. He looks at me for a minute, then back down at the paper, sighing.

"Get back to work." He says, "We'll deal with this later, okay?"

I don't know how this could be _dealt with_. Isn't that a nice way to phrase it?

No, no it isn't. Minus quite a few from Tony. What a wonderful parent he'd be.

Now, off to find Jack, who won't take it any better.

"Jack!" I call. He is halfway up the stairs to his office, and removing his bullet-proof vest for the first time today.

"What is it, Nina?"

I look over my shoulder. Yes, Tony is watching. They're both going to hate me now.

"Jack I…"

I can't do this.

His cell phone rings, so I don't have to.

"Bauer." He says to the phone. A minute later there is a, "Damn it!" a "when?" and an "I'm on my way now."

"What is it?"

"There's a situation." He says, typically, "Teri again."

He runs past me, without another word. The vest is pulled on again.


	5. Chapter 5

I'm walking down a hallway now. Actually, it's more of a satisfied… I don't know… _prancing_. Teri the Prisoner has undoubtedly upset her beloved. And it isn't wise to upset Jack Bauer; everyone should know that.

Thus, I won't be giving him my story for awhile. He doesn't need it. All his attention needs to be focused on the execution of Teri the Prisoner. Ha.

Oh no, no. We're not going to kill her. At least _I'm_ not going to. Jack can do what he wants. (Well, she's _upset_ him. Doesn't that mean death?)

"It's clear, Jack!" I call through the empty hallway. Hopefully, its echo reaches the corridor beside me, where Jack and Tony are hunting too.

A hunt for Teri. My day just can't get any better!

"Copy that, Myers." This is Tony, remaining professional.

He and I have joined Jack in wearing vests. It's quite amusing, I must say.

Treating her like a polished criminal, psh. I'd be amazed if she's even capable of pulling a trigger. Yet, she has the entire building on alert. For the second time in a day. Damn her, beating my record like that.

Oh, I don't have a record yet. Not until I run a few errands for Drazen. Those will certainly set off the system.

I glance at my watch.

Hmm, I should be attending to the mentioned errands now. I'm not even sure what they are. That means I should be looking for a new message, too. But I can't pull myself away from this; it's the highlight of my day!

I want to pout as I proceed down the hallway.

Why, would you look at that? It's Teri!

Forget pouting, I want to laugh now.

She's folded over the door to the back lot. She has a gun in one hand (held incorrectly, I might add) and a pen or something in the other. She's shoving the pen into the door's lock, though it's obviously electronic. Wow, really?

I can see right away that the gun isn't even loaded, so I proceed. I hear Jack and Tony, mumbling somewhere to my left. Then a nice, metallic echo.

Jack has jumped into this hallway, weapon drawn... and loaded, too.

"I swear to God, Jack. I'll kill you! I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" Teri screeches, continuing to stab the lock.

You go ahead and think that, dear.

Jack lowers his weapon.

"Teri... look, honey. I'm putting my gun down, okay?"

"Don't you call me 'honey' ever again!"

"Teri, put the gun down." This is Tony, who has emerged behind Jack.

She drops it, shaking.

"Where are you going, Teri?" Tony asks. Simple sentences work best with her, we've all decided.

She doesn't have an answer.

Tony steps forward, retrieving a shining pair of handcuffs from his pocket. This is so much fun!

Meanwhile, Jack steps back, until he's standing beside me.

"Damn it," he whispers to me, quite typically, "She's tying up operations here. The three of us need to get her secured, in Holding Three, as soon as possible."

Three? Ooh, that's the high-security one. I don't think she's capable of escaping, even from the regular holding cells.

Apparently Jack thinks so. Minus... however many. I'm kind of distracted right now.

This is because Teri has been tossed into my possession, like a freaking football, and I've been instructed to move her to Holding Three.

Jack and Tony are following me. All eyes in the building are focused our little parade.

"Get back to work!" Jack yells, to no one in particular.

I struggle to hold back a fit of laughter as I shove Teri into the holding room chair. Then, Tony and I get the privilege of securing chains around the chair, her feet, hands, and then a nice, pulse-monitoring collar to her neck.

No words are exchanged. Not until the three of us are securely out of the area. The door is shut and locked, and a new team of security personnel takes their post.

"Should we just send her home?" Tony asks, running a hand through his hair again.

"That's not a threat," Jack corrects him, "She doesn't want to be here. Kim can stay in Waiting..."

"Thanks for all this, Nina." Tony tells me, "We've got a threat to deal with, and you've turned Teri into the most pointless distraction this office has ever seen."

Distraction? Oh, you're one to speak. This is a good train of thought. I should vocalize it.

"_Me_?!? I didn't turn her into anything."

Silence for a second. Jack looks away, after getting a cold glare from Tony.

"I'm clearly _distracting_ both of _you_, so I'm going home."

"Don't be stupid." Jack says.

"No. I'm leaving, just for awhile. You'll both get more work done."

Well, look what I've done! I've just introduced the perfect excuse to visit Mr. Drazen. I'll go check on him now...


End file.
